Karbrandt now had confirmation that something was indeed awry. If the countless lolling tongues of the palace didnt do the trick, this hand-delivered message spoke volumes.

In reply:

It would be my honor to dine with the likes of the Royal Guard. I shall arrive promptly at the hour requested.Karbrandt Vanfoss

Karbrandt put quill and parchment away and summoned yet another palace page (there were seemingly thousands of them) to deliver his simple responce to Yohan Steel.

What say you Skoda? I smell trouble. Kings and Queens, the places and titles change, the politics remain. Why do you think they want to involve someone like me, eh? He questioned his kestrel, as it hopped around the desk, pecking at corn kernels, Karbrandt had left out for the bird.

The bird did not respond.

Karbrandt continued thinking to himself...

I am a stranger here, and of small importance. The Vanfoss Clan has no truck here. Perhaps those cousins of mine, the Valefos, dandies, dilletantes and pederasts, if Uncle Gierhart Vanfoss was to be believed, were invovled.

No use thinking too much he warned himself. Too much thinking always gets me into trouble.

The stoic falconer washed and groomed himself, dressed, and awaited his summons from Yohan Steel.

Ah, how I have come to love that sense of accomplishment and victory that I get when I pull the wool over the eyes of a clever player character. What DM Triumphs have you had?

Some of mine:1. Finally killing an incredibly powerful, lucky, annoying player's character.2. Finally achieving a TPK (Total Party Kill)3. Finally achieving a TPK using only traps4. Finally working out how to make it so that d**n wizard doesn't steal the spotlight all the d**n time.

Yohan read the letters he had received with relief. Not only were both men willing to speak with him, Lord Valefos would have his cousin with him! That was an extra prospect, though he knew not the caliber. He hoped it was a good one, it would leave Yohan four days to find the other three. That is, if the falconer proved appropriate.

He had no idea what he was going to say to Karbrandt. He knew nothing of the man, except that he was supposed to go hunting with the king, and the king was missing. Oh, and Karbrandt's Queen was Varnin's distant cousin somewhere along the line.

He bathed, and sent a servant to fetch some food and wine for dinner, then to collect Karbrandt. When they arrived, he motioned for the servant to leave instead of serving them, and himself poured the wine and motioned for the falconer to sit, placing the goblets on the table and seating himself opposite, uncovering a plate of steaming chicken and various vegetables for each, and lifting a napkin off a bowl of fruit.

He lifted his goblet "Welcome Karbrandt." He took a swallow of his wine and set the goblet down, holding his companion's eyes. "Small talk is for small times, and as you have likely determined, small these are not." He took a bite of his food, clearly enjoying the castle's chefs work. "Please, enjoy yourself. I would like to know, however, how close is Queen Goureiex to King Varnin, that you would have come all this way to hunt your birds with him?"

Logged

There's truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith. What you build you lay to waste.

Karbrandt wasnt expecting this first question. The chicken would have to wait. How to explain?

"My Queen", he began hesitantly, "Bid me travel to your kingdom. I am a gift" he said quietly, swallowing his pride. He glanced across the table at Yohan Steel of the Royal Guard, who was so enjoying his meal, and took measure of the man as he spoke.

"She is a distant cousin to be sure, yet, they must--" Karbrandt paused and thought for a moment longer

"I do not know to be honest....why I am here, and how well Queen Guireiex may know her kin, His Majesty. I was merely ordered to to make this trek, and serve Good-King Varnin. I was told that His Majesty's favorite falconer had recently passed, and that I would serve in his stead. That is all.

Yohan was a man of the Royal Guard, Karbrandt reasoned. Perhaps he would undertsand and sympathize with orders...and those who were required to obey them.

As he spoke, he hoped gossip of Queen Goureiex's dalliances, and the involvement of a certain falconer, had not reached the gates of this grand city.

Karbrandt reached for a chicken thigh, the whole time watching Yohan intently.

Ah, how I have come to love that sense of accomplishment and victory that I get when I pull the wool over the eyes of a clever player character. What DM Triumphs have you had?

Some of mine:1. Finally killing an incredibly powerful, lucky, annoying player's character.2. Finally achieving a TPK (Total Party Kill)3. Finally achieving a TPK using only traps4. Finally working out how to make it so that d**n wizard doesn't steal the spotlight all the d**n time.

"If you have been sent here to devote yourself to His Majesty's service, then your orders should follow that you should protect him should anything happen. Unfortunately, that is the case. I am sure you have heard the rumors floating about the castle, no one has confirmed things to the public, or even to the lesser nobles residing within the castle. Yes, the King is missing. Over the next few days, I will be gathering together a small band to go looking for him. I do not know where he is, and we have literally no leads. This will be entirely in the hands of the group I am putting together." He sighed and drank again from his goblet, looking now weary. "If you are not up to this, I will understand. Either way, I must insist that you keep this between us. Is there anything you would like to know?"

Logged

There's truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith. What you build you lay to waste.

"Few men have ears as sharp as a merchant's." Tormod said, it was rather nice to stroll on his own two feet for a change of pace. All the time spent in the light horse's saddle had made him feel restless. "If you go to Porthos the Merchant I will follow, hospitality is not to be turned down or forgotten."

Finding the merchant's villa was not too difficult, though a blocked bridge - a wagon had turned over through haste, necessated a different route. The drover was squabbling with the local milita and it looked like that route would be blocked for some time.

The alternate route was a fair bit longer, and it was nearly dusk when Seldrick, Tormod and Gallofrie arrived at the villa. At first Porthos own men-of-arms were somewhat uncooperative until they saw the priest. They then quickly hustled the three into the villa.

"Welcome, Seldric and Priest of Terat! It is interesting you would pick this time to appear, for naught one hour ago, a certain Corpral Losia was trying to find you. Well, whatever it was, it can wait til the morrow. We were just sitting down for our meal, and I would be honored for you to join us. Your things and horses shall be taken care of for you."

Yohan was glad. The meeting with Karbrandt had gone very well, and he had one man on his side. Today he would meet with Lord Valeofs and his cousin. He hoped that would go as smoothly.**

Yohan's nerves wracked him as he scanned the most recent reports coming in. He was both excited, and worried, and he kept having to rescan areas that he had absentmindedly skipped over.

He was excited because, as far as first days went, he had done surprisingly well. In retrospect, he had probably spent more on the food than had been absolutely needed. He would need those funds soon. Others had to be persuaded. Kaide Valefos, being a noble, would no doubt require a good selection of food and wine if he invited the man to dinner. Hopefully lunch at the White Paladin would be cheaper, but he doubted it.

In the meantime, he needed to find others. Many others. If even half of them were interested in going after the King, Yohan would be lucky. And the list was short.

Yohan was wise enough to know that anybody too famous would be bad to approach. Not only would word get around, but the most capable individuals would be most likely to have been bought already. That meant keeping to relative unknown and unapproached individuals who could ask questions and get answers without igniting any body's interests.

However, he needed capable hands to perform this delicate task. And to make matters worse, they had to be from outside the city with loyalties worthy of note. He couldn't help but wonder why he in particular had been chosen, but he knew that it made no difference. He had been assigned a critical task, and he had to perform in time.

As his eyes scanned another page of reports, his eyes caught on a name. Seldric had been serving the country in times of war for a long time, albeit, only intermittently. Yohan himself had been trained under Seldric, and knew him to be a man of character. Capable and dedicated enough to get the job done, without all the braggadocio or shifting loyalties typical of men fighting for rank and power.

Yohan got out a fresh sheet of parchment, and began writing his request for an audience.

"To Seldric Harrowmore, Staff Sergeant,

By authority of the Imperial Kingdom of Triand, you have been summoned to the Officer's quarters of the Royal Palace. You are expected to arrive promptly by 18:00 to discuss your rank and position within the Royal Imperium, as well as your reassignment.

This letter and it's contents are considered confidential, and to be disposed of in accordance with Imperial regulations pertaining to the care of sensitive materials.

-Yohan Steel, Second Lieutenant"

Corporal Losia stalked through the mess hall, parting those ahead with a glare that could make the sun wince. Why exactly was she being reassigned during her off-time, and being sent on some wild goose chase to deliver a letter? She wasn't a courier. This was somebody else's job.

To make matters worse, she couldn't even delegate the task to somebody else. She had been instructed to carry the letter personally, and hand it to a Seldric Harrowmore. He hadn't even told her where to find the man.

"It's not my problem where he is. If you think that you can't do it, then I'll reassign you to something less complex" she mimicked in a high, nasal tone.

There were some choice words she wished she could share with him right now, and it didn't help that her proxemity to his door was the only reason that she was chosen.

Logged

There's truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith. What you build you lay to waste.

The evening had gone well. Porthos loved many of the pleasures in life, with food near the top. The Merchant's cook was rumored to be one of the best in the capital and Seldric could attest to that. Seldric's wife was a good cook, but there was only so much one could do with turnips. Taking advantage of his host's bounty he ate like it was his last meal - as a soldier, you never knew.

The rooms offered to them were spartan, but reasonably comfortable. After the flea-infested straw from the wayhouses, or the ground where there were none, they were downright opalant.

In the morning, Seldric headed off to the palace to find this Corporal Losia.

Leaving the horses in the care of Gallofrie, Tormod accompanied Seldric on his trip to see Corp. Losia. It was a more direct and simple rout than trying to find the barracks for the militia or hunting down some Sir-such-and-such to find out the information he needed.

Corporal Losia commanded her face into what she hoped was a polite and non-threatening expression. She felt the opposite, after spending the gods knew how long asking around after this, this Seldric Harrowmore. He had better be important, she should have had a good deal of practice by now. She had heard he was at this merchant's villa, so she had come here looking for him. Approaching the gates, she tried not to grimace. "I'm looking for Seldric Harrowmore. I heard he was staying here?" There had better not be any problems. There just better not be. "I have a letter for him. It's important." Or had better be. She had liked Steel at first, but he had soon turned out to like, rather a lot, getting the tasks that let him order people about. It was a touch past dawn, and in the dim light she saw a couple figures crossing the courtyard behind the gate. She hoped against all hope that it was Seldric and that she would be done with this messenger business soon.

*****

Yohan had half-hoped that his other duties would get shuffled to someone else while he had this task to take care of, but he was sadly mistaken. After working on the poor skills of the seemingly never-ending stream of recruits, he finished up the last tidbits of mundane paperwork that he had left and proceeded to prepare himself for the meeting with Lord Valefos. He couldn't take another person with him, no one else was to really know what was going on. He arrived at the White Paladin with a few minutes to spare. This was good - he had been trained that to be early was to be on time, to be on time was to be late, and to be late was simply unacceptable. He introduced himself to the proprietor, "I am Lieutenant Steel of the Royal guard. Lord Valefos is expecting me." When the man nodded and showed him to the room, Yohan knocked and waited patiently for the door to be answered, hands folded militarily behind his back.

Logged

There's truth in your lies, Doubt in your faith. What you build you lay to waste.

Kaide opened the door when someone knocked. This military personage had to be Yohan Steel. For a brief moment, Kaide wondered cynically if he was what the Royal Guard expected. Probably not. He was a thin, scholarly looking man, who, at the moment, had a cat perched on his shoulder. It didn't, he decided, matter very much. All to the better if he didn't much look like who he was. "You must be Steel. Come in, they've already brought lunch up," he said genially. However, he was studying the man with an appraising look. This was one, he thought, who could be trusted. "This is my cousin, Arico. He has... what you might call a vested interest in the matter as well." He had no intention of going into private matters at this stage.

Arico rose to his feet, giving the Lieutenant a polite bow. The guardsman seemed sincere enough, and clearly wasn't one of the fashion-conscious palace officials more concerned about image than effectiveness: One look at the man's outdated military haircut convinced Arico of that!

Arico decided not to beat around the bush. "I hope that you have some news to share with us. This news about the King... Or rather, the lack of news... It worries me greatly. You may not recall me, but I was fostered for several years in the palace, and have fond memories of His Majesty's kindness toward a friendless youth. If there's any way that I can help, please let me know.

"I've asked around since I arrived in the city, but I haven't yet learned anything of significance. I would appreciate it if you could help us contact some trustworthy men to assist us in our inquiries."

Karbrandt sat and stared out the small window of his chamber. The King was missing, the King! What kind of foul treachery did you come upon, eh, falconer? He asked himself again. He had agreed of course, he knew no other way. He was needed.

Calling skoda over he attached the note he had been writing to Goureiex, and bid the bird fly. The note was terse. He secretly hoped his bitterness would be apparent to his former flame.

Quote

Your cousin, the King, has apparently vanished. Yohan Steel of the Royal Guard, has bidden me, nay asked me for assistence in this matter. Perhaps, I thought, you could shed some light on this affair, if not, at least help me to navigate this court. I thought I would be escaping the 'game' as you call it, but it seems now that I am to be a player.

Ah, how I have come to love that sense of accomplishment and victory that I get when I pull the wool over the eyes of a clever player character. What DM Triumphs have you had?

Some of mine:1. Finally killing an incredibly powerful, lucky, annoying player's character.2. Finally achieving a TPK (Total Party Kill)3. Finally achieving a TPK using only traps4. Finally working out how to make it so that d**n wizard doesn't steal the spotlight all the d**n time.